Verdict
Summary
A departure from the flashy Italian westerns Eastwood did previously, which made him famous and much more an Americanized western in the style of TV movies with a streamlined approach, Hang ‘Em High is pretty basic from a plot and directorial standpoint with Ted Post giving the movie a cookie cutter formula that American audiences might have expected at the time. It does, however, have an unusual viewpoint on justice, and Eastwood plays the irked hero perfectly with his pitched eyebrows and annoyed stare.
Plot:
An ex-lawman is unjustly hanged and survives … and becomes a lawman again to get his righteous revenge.
Review:
After spending $800 on a herd of cattle, ex lawman Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is approached by eight men who assume he murdered the owner of the cattle and stole the herd, falsifying the bill of sale, and they hang him for it without due process. Luckily, he survives the ordeal, but he’s brought before a judge named Fenton (played by Pat Hingle) who is known for his hasty trials and his mass hangings, and fate smiles on Cooper again when Fenton pardons him entirely when evidence is presented that Cooper was innocent all along and was duped by a murderer and fraudster, whom Fenton quickly judges and hangs. For his trouble, Cooper is handed twelve dollars … and a job offer: Become Fenton’s federal lawman and hunt down lawbreakers all across Oklahoma. Cooper sees this as his chance to legally track down and bring to justice those eight men who did him wrong. Within a short time, he is doing such a great job that Fenton declares him the greatest lawman who ever worked for him, but Fenton’s need to show off his brand of justice (which means hasty and one-sided trials and swift executions en masse) rubs Cooper the wrong way. Cooper sees his tenure as a lawman coming to an end as he inches closer to the final batch of men who did him wrong, but Fenton persuades him to keep going with more money than he’s ever earned before. Will these two be a team or adversaries?
A departure from the flashy Italian westerns Eastwood did previously, which made him famous and much more an Americanized western in the style of TV movies with a streamlined approach, Hang ‘Em High is pretty basic from a plot and directorial standpoint with Ted Post giving the movie a cookie cutter formula that American audiences might have expected at the time. It does, however, have an unusual viewpoint on justice, and Eastwood plays the irked hero perfectly with his pitched eyebrows and annoyed stare, hating the way his superior (the judge) manipulates the justice system to keep the system going like a freight train. The film ends on an unusually poignant note, leaving viewers in the middle of Cooper’s journey rather than giving it closure. It suggests that justice is a work in progress, and for a western at that time, it’s an eyebrow-raiser.
Kino Lorber’s new 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray combo pack of Hang ‘Em High comes in a vibrant new 4K scan, and the film upgrades all previous home video editions. It comes with two audio commentaries by two different sets of film historians, a batch of promotional material such as radio, TV, and theatrical trailers and spots, a reversible sleeve, and a slipcover.
